Online gamers help cops thwart violent Arizona home invasion

A woman in Arizona has thanked online gamers around the world who helped police thwart a home invasion after watching two armed men threaten her live via their webcams. -- PHOTO: SCREEN CAPTURE FROM YOUTUBE

PHOENIX (REUTERS) – A woman in Arizona has thanked online gamers around the world who helped police thwart a home invasion after watching two armed men threaten her live via their webcams.

The 28-year-old, who had been playing the multiplayer game Dota 2 when the break-in happened on Monday at around 5am, said the outcome could have been much worse if fellow gamers had not witnessed the crime.

"I don't know where I would be if I wasn't doing what I was doing," the woman, whose name was not released by police but who goes by Sajedene online, said in a Facebook post late Monday. "I can not thank you all enough."

Police in Tempe, an eastern suburb of Phoenix, said they arrested a 27-year-old man, Edgardo Martinez, on suspicion of home invasion, and were seeking a second suspect.